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Enlarge ImageRequest to buy this photoTED S. WARREN | ASSOCIATED PRESSAn excavator removes a mangled vehicle from the site of a deadly mudslide near Darrington, Wash. The death toll climbed to 28 yesterday, with 22 still listed as missing.

DARRINGTON, Wash. — Survivors of a mudslide that virtually erased a community in Washington
state and left dozens dead or missing have begun to contemplate the future of the disaster site,
with many saying it should be left as a shrine once the bulldozers and excavators leave.

As pools of muddy water receded farther during a second straight sunny day yesterday, recovery
teams pressed on with their search for victims of the March 22 slide, triggered when a rain-soaked
hillside caved in above the north fork of the Stillaguamish River.

The torrent of mud roared over the riverbanks and across Rt. 530, engulfing about three dozen
homes on the outskirts of the town of Oso in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, northeast of
Seattle.

The official death toll, based on the number of victims whose remains have been sent to
coroners, rose to 28 yesterday, up from 24 a day earlier, while an additional 20 people are still
listed as missing. The Snohomish County medical examiner’s office said 22 of the confirmed
fatalities have now been identified, including a 4-month-old girl and two other children ages 5 and
6.

Among those still listed as missing, at least 16 once lived on Steelhead Drive in Oso, which was
in the direct path of the slide and now is buried and robbed of any landmark or sign by which one
might even find it.

With the realization that some remains might never be recovered from the mound of mud and debris
up to 80 feet deep has come growing sentiment that the site ultimately should be turned into a
memorial or park.

Ruth Hargrave, 67, whose neighbors are among the dead and missing, said she could not imagine
rebuilding the beloved riverside vacation house that was in the path of the slide.

“Oh, my God, no!” she said. “And not because of the fear of more slides. But all of that death
and destruction.”

Hargrave said the stricken community, one-half square mile of which lies under the mud, should
be treated as hallowed ground. Her view is shared by many who live in the area.

“There ought to be a marker put up there honoring the people who died,” said Jan Kittleson, 59,
a truck driver from Darrington, 10 miles to the east. “The river will cut its way through there the
way it always has.”

Daniel Miller, a geologist and author of a 1999 study for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
warning of the potential for a “large catastrophic failure” in the vicinity of the collapsed
hillside, said additional slides in the area are likely.

“I don’t think anybody should be living there,” he said. “It would be OK to do something like a
park, but I don’t think there should be houses down there.”

Gary Young, a retired U.S. serviceman from Darrington, felt that future use of the site should
be left up to those who own the land. “If they want to put shrines up or whatever, that’s cool. But
it’s their property.”